Hundreds of banana farmers from Central America and South America will again have their day in court, after a U.S. appeals court on Friday 2 September revived six lawsuits accusing several big fruit and chemical companies of sickening them with a toxic pesticide.
By an 11-0 vote, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia revived claims by 228 farmers from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama against such companies as Chiquita Brands International, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Dole Food, Dow Chemical, Occidental Chemical and Shell Oil.
The court said a Delaware judge abused his discretion by dismissing the lawsuits instead of putting them on hold or transferring them, after another judge in Louisiana had rejected the same claims because they were brought there too late.
The farmers are seeking damages from the defendants for exposure from the 1960s to 1980s to dibromochloropropane (DBCP), a pesticide they blame for causing sterility, kidney failure, elevated cancer risk, birth defects and other medical problems.
Most uses of DBCP were banned in the United States in 1977. The farmers sued on their own after a U.S. court rejected their bid to pursue a class action.
Other banana workers with similar claims have won multi-million dollar settlements. One case against Dole reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.
Most of the lawsuits were returned to Delaware for further proceedings. Claims against Chiquita will move to New Jersey, where that company is incorporated.
Source: insurancejournal.com
